Truck Drivers: By the Numbers, 2013

Five years into the U.S. economic recovery, trucking companies say finding and hiring drivers is harder than ever. This driver shortage is a roadblock to expansion, limiting incremental growth in truck capacity, and a prime reason truck rates are set to increase at a faster pace in 2014.

How big the shortage is depends on whom you ask. But there are fewer working truck drivers today than there were before the recession. Driver turnover at large truckload fleets has been above 90 percent for eight straight quarters. And driver pay remains below the U.S. average.

A growing number of trucking executives say poor — and unpredictable — pay is the primary reason for the shortage of new drivers. This infographic shows how the driver pool has changed and looks at a key reason why there are few new drivers: the lower earnings potential.